SSN is a digest of the day's soccer/football/futbol articles with a focus on the top European leagues and the United States National Team. Below, you’ll find links to articles and video, as well as additional features and commentary. We locate the top news of the day so you can stay updated with ease.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

The furor over Nigel de Jong's X-rated tackle on Hatem Ben Arfa over the weekend continues to rage, with De Jong dropped by the Netherlands for the upcoming slate of international matches. Fortunately for Nigel, Ryan "Not That Kind of Player" Shawcross, whose firm-but-fair testing of players like Francis Jeffers, Emmanual Adebayor and most famously Aaron Ramsey has resulted in a cumulative 2 seasons lost to injury by the aforementioned players, has leaped to his defense:

"You have just got to accept in these times, with the ball moving so fast and the player moving so fast, sometimes you are going to mis-time tackles and that is when injuries can happen."

Yes, that's right, fault is to be found with fast players moving the ball too quickly. Skill players of the world take heed; the onus is on you to make yourselves and the ball available for tackling at moderate speeds or it's your own fault when injuries happen and you find yourself with a double fracture which will shorten your career and hurt for the rest of your life.

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Jermaine Jones blended right in, chatting with Steve Cherundolo and Michael Bradley during a warmup jog and finding his new American teammates with smooth, effortless passes. It was as if he's been part of the U.S. midfield for years. A year after switching countries, the German-born Jones has finally joined his new national team at training camp this week.

Roy Hodgson always was likely to face two problems at Liverpool: that his football was too boring for the fans, and that his training was too boring for the players. A certain stodginess leading to long-term grumbling was perhaps to be expected, but what nobody predicted was that Liverpool would be as bad as it has been so far this season, and that there would be immediate outrage.

Fireworks popped from the top of the scoreboard. Confetti fluttered all over the field. And 40-year-old Kasey Keller acted like a dared teenager, flipping over the crossbar and onto the back of the net.

A year ago, the Sounders felt slighted when D.C. United was awarded the final, leaving Seattle general manager Adrian Hanauer to engage in a media war of words with United president Kevin Payne. Seattle walked away with the satisfaction of a 2-1 victory and its first championship in its inaugural season.

Rob KellyAnother big game, another defeat for Arsenal, another Didier Drogba goal and another demonstration of the gulf that currently exists between Chelsea and their London rivals. Some things seemingly never change at the top of the Premier League, no matter what the Sky hype machine would have you believe. The most exciting league in the world? Well, who didn’t see this result coming?

Jason BurtIn a rare lull in play during a frantic first half, the baiting of Ashley Cole from the Arsenal supporters reached a fierce crescendo. As he waited to take a throw-in, the Chelsea left-back made a subtle response. He pointed to the Premier League champions badge on his left sleeve. No more needed to be said.

It only requires ten minutes on Twitter to gauge the strength of feeling for and against Nigel de Jong in the wake of his challenge on Hatem Ben Arfa on Sunday which left the Newcastle winger with a double break of his left leg.

Borussia Dortmund kept up the chase of Mainz at the top of the Bundesliga as they beat Bayern Munich 2-0 on Sunday. Elsewhere on Sunday, Stuttgart's Bundesliga struggles continued with a 2-1 home loss against Eintracht Frankfurt, condemning them to sit in last place over the international break. Marius Ebbers' first goal of the season earned St Pauli a 1-0 victory over high-flying Hannover at the AWD-Arena on Friday night.

Lazio moved to the top of the Serie A table - for the time being at least - with a narrow 1-0 win over 10-man Brescia on Sunday. Fiorentina's frailties returned to haunt them as they slumped to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to Palermo. Napoli claimed their first Serie A win at the Stadio San Paolo this season as two late goals helped them beat Roma 2-0.

Very rarely can a Merseyside derby be described as a relegation six-pointer, but these are unusual times at Anfield. When the international break disappears and Liverpool refocus on their trip to Goodison Park on October 17, they will do so with a worm's eye view. Sunday's humiliating defeat to Blackpool leaves them in 18th place after seven league games.

Liverpool supporters, with no serious form for ever demanding managerial change despite thousands gathering in the streets in protest against the American duo, chanted the name of Anfield icon Kenny Dalglish as Hodgson's tenure moved ominously from transition to crisis.

It was an all too familiar story for Arsenal as they lost to Chelsea, while Liverpool sunk to a new low as Blackpool silenced Anfield.

Elsewhere, Everton climbed off the foot of the table with their first win of the season, Rafael van der Vaart stole the show at White Hart Lane, while Manchester City rose to second place. Wigan Athletic's first league win of the term at the DW Stadium was marred by a horrible tackle by Wolverhampton Wanderers captain Karl Henry that rightly resulted in a red card, with the victim Jordi Gomez fortunate to escape serious injury. Draw specialists Fulham played out a 1-1 result against West Ham United at Upton Park.

Few of us like Monday but The Fifth Official does, for it brings with it a chance for him to point the finger and laugh. Here he pulls out the pretty, the puzzling and the downright pig-ugly from a five-star weekend.